1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control apparatus for a vehicle that reduces the output of a drive power source when an accelerator and a brake are simultaneously operated.
2. Description of Related Art
As an example of a control system applied to a vehicle, there is a brake override system as shown in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-038051 (JP 2010-038051 A). In the brake override system described in JP 2010-038051 A, when a driver of a vehicle simultaneously performs accelerator operation (depression of an accelerator pedal) and brake operation (depression of a brake pedal), the braking of the vehicle based on the brake operation is given priority over the acceleration of the vehicle based on the accelerator operation by reducing the opening degree of a throttle valve so as to reduce the engine output and therefore reduce the drive force of the vehicle.
The brake override system determines the presence or absence of brake operation performed by a driver of the vehicle, for example, from results of detection of the brake hydraulic pressure produced by a brake master cylinder, the depressing force on the brake pedal, etc. If a sensor that performs such detection or a signal line connected to the sensor has abnormality or the like so that it becomes impossible to certainly determine the presence or absence of brake operation performed by the driver while the vehicle drive force has been reduced by the brake override system, the drive force of the vehicle remains at a reduced level even if the driver discontinues the brake operation. As a result, in some cases, the vehicle is not driven or operated exactly as the driver intends, and drivability may thus deteriorate.